Olive Way Starbucks closing for massive remodel

If you’re on Capitol Hill and looking for your Starbucks fix come August, you might not be able to walk in to your usual spot.

The location on Olive Way – near The Stumbling Monk and B&O Espresso – is undergoing a massive revamp that will close it for two months at the end of July.

The place is getting redone, inside and out, to look similar to its 15th Street Coffee & Tea and Roy Street Coffee & Tea. That means more reclaimed wood and an indoor-outdoor fireplace similar to a Mercer Island location. The coffee shop is also going to have a U-shaped coffee bar rather than the typical bar along the wall – an effort to bring customers closer to baristas for conversation, spokeswoman Stacey Krum said.

The building will also receive a dramatic exterior facelift to match with other buildings in the area. As is, it sticks out from all the ones in the area, having once been a Boston Market restaurant. The new look will use bricks and feature an outside deck with seating.

“It was time for this store to get a new look,” Krum said. “It’s a great space, it’s a good sized store and in a great location. And it’s gateway to Capitol Hill as you’re going up to Broadway.”

But the remodel will also mean more than just cosmetic changes. They’re going to start selling beer and wine, like their 15th Street and Roy Street experiments, and have live music. For those who go for the coffee, they’re bringing in two Clover brew machines and will now be serving pour-over coffee as well.

Interestingly, Starbucks is choosing to keep the shop branded by its own name, rather than change over to the neighborhood-esque names adopted by 15th Street and Roy Street.

Don’t worry though. Even with the store closed, there will still be some capacity to serve coffee, though at a reduced level.